Rick Perry: States Should Have the Right to Ban Abortions

Texas Gov. Rick Perry restated his views against abortion late Wednesday when he firmed up his position favoring the 10th Amendment when it comes to abortion. Perry is a strong states’ rights advocate and believes states should be able to ban abortions.

“You either have to believe in the 10th Amendment or you don’t,” Perry told reporters Wednesday night, according to ABC News. “You can’t believe in the 10th Amendment for a few issues and then [for] something that doesn’t suit you say, ‘We’d rather not have states decide that.’”

Although the 10th Amendment says “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people,” the Supreme Court issued a decision in 1973 in the Roe v. Wade case saying that state laws prohibiting abortions could no longer be enforced. The Roe case came out of Texas and involved a pro-abortion attorney, Sarah Weddington, who turned Norma McCorvey’s lawsuit seeking a divorce into a case establishing legalized abortion.

Henry Wade, a Dallas-area county attorney, defended the Texas pro-life law in court during the Roe case.

Responding to Perry’s comments asserting a state’s right to prohibit abortions, the National Right to Life Committee issued a statement defending the desire to provide legal protection for women and unborn children from abortion.

“Our society has an obligation to enact laws that recognize and protect the smallest members of our human family. Prior to Roe, states had the ability to enact laws that extended full legal protection to unborn children. We look forward to the day when Roe v. Wade is changed, and the states will once again have the ability to pass legislation that fully protects mothers and their unborn children,” the pro-life organization told ABC.

Recently, LifeNews.com profiled Perry in an article featuring comments from two statewide pro-life groups, Texas Alliance for Life and Texas Right to Life, verifying Perry’s pro-life credentials and discussing the lengthy list of pro-life actions he’s taken as governor. Representatives of both groups expressed confidence in Perry advocating a pro-life agenda should he decide to run for president and be nominated by Republicans to take on pro-abortion President Barack Obama.